Mysterious OCA Metropolitan Enthroned

[Pravoslavnik]

The mysterious, newly-elected OCA Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) will be enthroned as the first Hierarch of the OCA this morning at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Here is a link to the story:

http://www.oca.org/news/1734

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   I have noticed in the official biographical press releases that the new Metropolitan was only very recently consecrated as an auxiliary OCA bishop of Dallas/ Fort Worth, just prior to his rapid ascension and surprising election as first hierarch of the OCA. I also noticed that Metropolitan Jonah was originally received into the Orthodox Church in a [i]Moscow Patriarchate parish in San Diego, California, and actually worked for the Moscow Patriarchate in Russia in some capacity, before returning to the U.S.,[/i] eventually becoming the Abbot of an Orthodox skete in windy Point Reyes, California, (which has apparently now relocated to some other location in California.)  The only other historical information I could find on Jonah or his skete was in reference to a defrocked Orthodox priest (identified on Pokrov.org) who has recently been one of the monks in Metropolitan Jonah's OCA skete--a man who was apparently found guilty of homosexually molesting a mentally retarded male parishioner from a former parish in the San Francisco area, and paid a legal settlement in the case.

   People with some knowledge of MP history might naturally wonder if the new OCA first hierarch Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) was possibly recruited many years ago by the KGB/FSB to work in American Orthodox circles.  After reading Konstantin Preobrazhensky's latest history on the subject of KGB recruitment techniques, Jonah certainly seems a plausible target for preious KGB recruitment, perhaps via the usual threats, bribery, blackmail regarding possible homosexuality, etc...  Which is not say that the KGB would have any obvious motive for directing him toward the role of Abbot in an American Orthodox skete--other than possibly being able to later promote him rapidly to some hierarchical role in which he could facilitate a reconciliation of the OCA with the new MP-ROCOR administration in America today....

     This whole KGB theory seems too far-fetched and paranoid to be worthy of serious consideration, especially without some corroborative details from people who have actually [i]known [/i] or worked with the mysterious Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) over the years.  I'm hoping to eventually see some information on this subject, as opposed to the carefully crafted sermons and press releases coming from the OCA.  Afterall, no sincere Orthodox Christian would want to see a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing serving as a priest or hierarch of an Orthodox Church, would they?  That would be almost as unthinkable as some Orthodox Seminary like St. Tikhon's or St. Vladimir's giving honorary degrees to known KGB informants within the ranks of the Moscow Patriarchate hierarchy...

[Catherine5]

What a fabulously insightful post, very balanced as well. The author does not succumb to paranoid jumping to conclusions. Yet he lays out a very clever case, about what I myself had been borderline suspicious.
That also stood out like a red thumb to me that Jonah, then James, had sought out the MP parish in San Diego, rather than the perfectly good St John of Kronstadt Church which as far as I know has been around for decades. I know little about it except it's a ROCOR parish. But no offense, but who in their right mind would choose a very cold MP parish over the warm ROCOR one dedicated to one of the most wonderful Saints of Russian Orthodoxy, if he were really serious!!
That was the first I had ever heard of the MP's "Cathedral" in San Diego - but i may be not widely well informed.
Let's move along here. Then-Father Jonah often appeared at ROCOR parishes beaming away. He was a fairly regular sight, showing up quietly with a few of his monks on odd occasions at for example, the main ROCOR Cathedral in San Francisco. Theoretically it was his devotion to the monastery's patron, St John of Shanghai and SF, visiting the Saint's relics at that Cathedral. But who knows? He always beamed at anyone he knew. Was he really an amicable, even highly tolerant monastic who wished to overcome the tooth and nail fighting between OCA and ROCOR by his very clear statement made by attending the ROCOR central headquarters of the West Coast? Or, was he observing the services and events for his own edification, which I kind of doubt. There WAS one local OCA priest who every year scrunched down a bit up in the balcony to watch the beautiful Vigil of the Elevation of the Cross, apparently appreciating how it was done by the local Archbishop or Bishop, but that seemed out of personal interest and not suspicious at all.
Now too, we know other facts which are not mentioned in the public resume, and are not necessarily strange. There were apparently three James who all were Santa Cruz students or similar who were spiritually directed for a time by Father [later Archimandrite] Anastassy. One James is a hieromonk in ROCOR, so maybe that embarrassed the OCA. The other James I am not sure which he was, but certainly in the same group of young men was the future Platina Abbot, Fr Gerasim. Wonder why that was not mentioned, especially with the St Herman of Alaska's ever-expanding cooperation with the MP.
A source told me that Fr Jonah's one-time mentor, Fr Anastassy, who by the way deserves a lot of credit for converting a surprising number of young souls to Orthodoxy, and guiding their spiritual development, was displeased if not disillusioned with Fr Jonah. Though they maintained some contact for years after Fr Jonah became an Abbot, Fr Anastassy did not mince words, telling associates Fr Jonah was totally lazy, weak-willed, and fat, and that he didn't think that Fr Jonah would amount to much in the spiritual life, of course.
Then let's go to the monastery in Pt Reyes, originally named St Eugene's. They offered a lot of fish suppers to attract people, I heard. But there was a lot of unspecified problems, and a number of the monks departed for obscure reasons. Few actually remained, which may have had something to do with the very secretive change of location inland near Redding, which is pretty near Platina and also, the WIldwood convent, a little farther into the forest.

[Catherine5]

A few more items. From the OCA biography, copied respectfully onto wikipedia:
"He subsequently joined Valaam Monastery as a novice, coming under the spiritual direction of Archimandrite Pankraty (Zherdev), the monastery's abbot (now a titular bishop of Troitsk, believed to be close to Patriarch Alexius II of Moscow). Fr Pankratiy's spiritual father, Elder Kyrill of Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, later blessed James to become a hieromonk"
All these accounts make Fr Jonah's spiritual fathers sound little short of giants. When in fact, BOTH would have been very close probably if accounts are correct to Alexey II. The elder Kirill was boasted about among the rank and file of the MP for two things: his WWII exploits - I have forgotten the stories, but they weren't that impressive to me! - & acclaimed as being a spiritual father of the Patriarch, who was said to consult this elder Kirill for many years, when the elder stayed for a time at Novospassky Monastery. So what do we have here? The monk Jonah under two cronies of no less than Alexey himself! It seems most every source is silent on this glaring point.
Fr Jonah went often to Russia, staying at the Valaam Podvorie in Moscow, which is nothing wrong with that that we can see. He began a journal, too, called Ascension or something. It was maybe a good effort and did have some lives of Saints that were useful. But I doubt Metropolitan Philaret would have been happy for any of us to read that, it was too OCA! Metropolitan Philaret made a speech which was reprinted in Orthodox LIfe in which he said "So, I repeat, talk of a reconciliation between the so-called "three jurisdictions" -- as people who do not understand the matter explain -- is being raised now because people do not hold the Truth dear." He meant that there was just one right Church, ROCOR, instead of all three being considered equally legitimate.
But here we hear that then-Bp.Jonah said in a speech that he had known and liked Metr Hilarion from old days when the latter was at Jordanville. So maybe they are two peas in a pod: they even have a similar ambiance of weakness and malleability, beneath a jovial-sounding front.
Then, I want to raise the point which people may ridicule me for. But why are these monastics so overwhelming overweight? It's not normal for an ascetic, except for some diabetic or other condition maybe. I believe the rotundity reveals a lack of inner sureness which opens the door to influence by demons which push for food addiction and who knows what other spiritual conditions may follow on those heels?
Certainly blackmail would be an easy bet in general with that sort. I think there were rumors about homosexuality too, but perhaps nothing is provable. But I ask the question, why were Met Laurus, Met Hilarion and as of this day, Met Jonah all so grossly overweight and all so favorable to Moscow?
You can laugh, but look at the facts: those Hierarchs who stood up to Moscow were slim and tough. Look at photos of the prayerful ascetic, Metr Philaret; Metr Vitaly was very trim too, like he went to the gym every day!
So we can guess where things are headed: OCA - ROCOR smiling detente, with both warring factions now subdued beneath Moscow's heel and starting to pull together beneath its yoke - but what else too?

[Pravoslavnik]

Catherine,

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It does seem a bit far-fetched to imagine that those close to Patriarch Alexey II and the other hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate would have devoted any time or attention to cultivating and grooming an American convert within the Moscow Patriarchate--like young James Paffhausen-- to one day become the first hierarch, Metropolitan Jonah, of the OCA.  Even if they had coached him to assume the role of "Abbot" in a small, fledgling OCA monastery in a place like Point Reyes, how could the MP have expected to bring about the rapid promotion and election of their mysterious, erstwhile "Abbot" within the OCA? Such a far-fetched hypothesis would imply that some of the current leaders of the OCA, such as Father Thomas Hopko, and the OCA bishops, have been closely collaborating with Moscow during this recent process of financial scandal and upheaval within the OCA hierarchy.  It is true that Father Thomas Hopko recently called for an MP Archbishop (Hilarion of Vienna) to assume the position of OCA first hierarch, but that does not imply anything of great significance.  Others might say that Hopko and the OCA had awarded an honorary degree to Patriarch Alexey II (Ridiger) as evidence of active political collaboration between Moscow and the current OCA leadership.  But this also seems a bit paranoid and far-fetched.  What would Hopko and St. Vladimir's Seminary need from Moscow?  Legitimacy of their canonical status as a group that unlawfully broke with St Philaret (Vosnesensky) and the ROCOR?  Money?  Avoidance of blackmail?  Who knows?  It seems far more likely that these good men of the OCA, including Paffhausen and Hopko, simply wanted to pursue what is best for the unity and "strength through joy" of the world Orthodox churches...

[Catherine5]

Well, Pravoslavnik, I think these angles are really necessary to examine. Maybe after discussion, there will turn out to be no reason for alarm at the new Met of the OCA.
But look at the other side of the coin. If there IS something fishy there, it's better to be alert and aware and able to watch carefully to correctly assess his actions. One blog wrote at the time of the election in November, something like "I was shocked that a Bishop of 12 days old could be elected to the head of the second largest Russian Orthodox jurisdiction in the US. Either it's madness or Providence."
But this OCA person was quickly drowned out by reassurances that a commenter had known the new Metr. for several years and he was highly recommended. Several years? That's no time at all to pass a clear and complete assessment of Met Jonah! I feel the alarm that the bloggist registered was in accord with the Truth, but he had little information to back up his apprehensiveness and so was quickly steamrollered over.
Let's still look at some as you said, mysterious factors. What American guy would take off to go work for the Publishing Dept of the MP at a young age? I find that strange, VERY strange. Why would he choose there, when he could have gone to well, Synod in Manhattan or Jordanville to work on Orthodox Life or anywhere. How about Paris, to work at that Fellowship of St Sergius and St Alban - or whatever they call that school?
And Russky Palomnik? I am uninformed, but it seems that was Fr Herman's pet project to resurrect that old literary magazine from the turn of the century. Did the MP have a parallel volume, or start out and then hand it over to Fr Herman of Platina? The whole thing is STRANGE: the exact year was not furnished, that I could tell, or the length of time he spent ostensibly working there. I smell a small rat. Like a papered-over resume. It was maybe a glamour job involving little work. What else was he doing in Moscow at that era? The sequence seems odd too: the resume reads that "His Beatitude" - also a strange title to me! - was introduced to the Orthodox monastic life THRU this work. I would have thought it would be the opposite. He goes to be a novice in "the Homeland" - but not his homeland as he is not apparently of any Russian extraction! - and is assigned as obedience this clerical work. Moving along, why is his time at world-famous Valaam Monastery so glossed over? All he does is get a blessing to become a monk, if I remember correctly. If he really had done anything there, it would be proudly repoted: "He worked in the dairy" or, "He traveled by caique to visit the various sketes, such as the wonderful hermitage of St Alexander Svirsky, etc etc" I am a bit suspicious just that the time he spent might have been quite superficial. What else was going on with his interior life? We don't know. What about external connections? We don't know - but, we can maybe conjure up possibilities which may be very fuzzy. But I think to work thru various scenarios is valuable.
Moving up to the enthronement yesterday, I followed the ocanews link provided, and saw with great repulsion that number one guest - who did not make it, as it turned out - was Abp Leo of Helsinki and All Finland, notorious among conservatives for his shocking permissiveness. What sort of company is Met Jonah and the New OCA keeping?
I don't know exactly how to interpret about the degree given to Alexey II, though it sounds really obsequious, and bodes badly for the future. But how, I don't know. But notice that the ambassador of the RF attended Met Jonah's enthronement. We all know about those!
I will write more but here are some thoughts.

[Pravoslavnik]

Catherine,

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   Here is a link to the Pokrov.org article on Archimandrite Michael Rymer, a monk at former Abbot Jonah (Paffhausen's) skete in California.  Rymer paid a court settlement in a homosexual molestation case involving a male parishioner.  Of course, this does not imply guilt by association with Rymer's spiritual father, OCA Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen), but it would be helpful to have more firsthand information about the skete and mysterious new leader of the OCA.  The documentary evidence about KGB recruitment of priests and hierarchs (e.g., K. Preobrazhensky's [i]Trojan Horse[/i]) discusses the common usage of homosexual blackmail as a recruitment technique within the Moscow Patriarchate.  Since Paffhausen worked for the MP from  early on in his ecclesiastical career, it certainly makes one wonder about his motives and history... Was he recruited primarily because of his piety and/or inherent loyalty to the neo-Soviet state, (not likely for a non-Russian) or because he was offered a  compelling carrot and a stick?

http://pokrov.org/display.asp?ds=Person&id=150

[Catherine5]

Pravoslavnik,
Good I'm glad to see you returned to that most essential evidence of all in the equation. I honed right in on that section of your early post, but was mulling it over so didn't directly respond but felt that was the real kernel of the matter.
Of course, we have actually No exact evidence, but are building a case here - or at least, I for one, am quite keen to construct one. Why? Because I really want to get to the truth of the matter.
I found this on a blog just now, which while garbled, conveys the total and complete subjugation of the OCA under Jonah's administration to Moscow. I say Moscow rather than the MP because it implies both 'church' and State together:
"Metropolitan Jonah, who rank of archbishop of Washington and New York, said that the whole soul seeks to "maintain the closest relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and its prospective new Patriarch. "
The more I think about his "work" for the Publishing Dept, the larger the red flag my brain registers. I bet he did absolutely NOTHING - I can feel that - it was an excuse to have a job - for a justification for his hanging around Moscow for fun - OR, for something else, at least leading on the path to some recruitment?
Did the MP "cathedral" - I saw the OCA scaled that description back down to "church" in San Diego - send him there? If so that's a big red flag too! [By the way, I had a friend who spent his freshman year at UCSD and he never hid that it was a party school beyond any peer! All this description of Jonah as "intelligent" - yeah, sure: give me a break! I don't mean to mock him but I'm trying to assemble an accurate picture of him. Not very bright. UCSC was likewise, but slightly more alternative. In fact heavily leftist, and RADICALLY counter-culture. Who would pick a school like THAT? A former OCA parishioner that I know went there and happened to mention a very major homosexual movement at that school way before it even made such inroads into the public eye in major cities. So, how do we know what James had been involved with during those years? Maybe nothing, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. But certainly: let's say young James did not have what it takes intellectually to succeed in worldly competition. I mention some of this to say he is probably of minimal intelligence, and maybe some lingering sybaritic bent, and laziness to strive in normal fields, which directed him into the path of least resistance: the offered avocation - it would not likely have been a fulltime agent -of working to advance the interests of poor Mother Russia....